Jarrell is the author of nine books of poems, a novel, and four books of criticism. He also published children's literature and translations. Jarrell served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and spent the rest of his career teaching at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina.

His books of poems include The Rage for the Lost Penny (1940), Blood for a Stranger (1942), Little Friend, Little Friend (1945), The Woman at the Washington Zoo (1960), and The Lost World (1965). His collection of critical essays on other poets, Poetry and the Age (1953), was influential on generations of poets.

Jarrell lived in this house from 1956 to 1958, while Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress.